God, I hope not.
Sgt. Robert Longcrier, the lay leader of the Wiccan groups at the Air Force Academy, burns white sage to consecrate the stone worship circle.
Posted on 02/03/2010 4:30:45 PM PST by khnyny
Witches, Druids and pagans rejoice! The Air Force Academy in Colorado is about to recognize its first Wiccan prayer circle, a Stonehenge on the Rockies that will serve as an outdoor place of worship for the academy's neo-pagans.
Wiccan cadets and officers on the Colorado Springs base have been convening for over a decade, but the school will officially dedicate a newly built circle of stones on about March 10, putting the outdoor sanctuary on an equal footing with the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Buddhist chapels on the base.
"When I first arrived here, Earth-centered cadets didn't have anywhere to call home," said Sgt. Robert Longcrier, the lay leader of the neo-pagan groups on base.
"Now, they meet every Monday night, they get to go on retreats, and they have a stone circle."
Academy officials had no tally of the number of Wiccan cadets at the school of 4,500, but said they had been angling to set up a proper space since the academic year began.
"That's one of the newer groups," said John Van Winkle, a spokesman for the academy. "They've had a worship circle on base for some time and we're looking to get them an official one."
The Air Force recognizes several distinct forms of neo-paganism, including Dianic Wicca, Seax Wicca, Gardnerian Wicca, shamanism and Druidism, according to Pagan groups that track the information.
Since a 2004 survey of cadets on the base revealed dozens of instances of harassment and intolerance, superintendent Michael Gould has made religious tolerance a priority.
Yet Van Winkle, the academy spokesman, said he could not confirm whether the school's superintendent or senior staff would attend the dedication ceremony.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
lulz, you one of those “earth-centered” folks too?
God, I hope not.
Sgt. Robert Longcrier, the lay leader of the Wiccan groups at the Air Force Academy, burns white sage to consecrate the stone worship circle.
I'm not sure if Wiccan is roughly the same as Druid, but if it is, they definitely are not pacifists.
http://www.norfolkcoast.co.uk/historicnorwich/article_boudicca.htm
Heads up - earth centered people are taking over
[Mr] T
What’s wrong with it? Non-Wiccans aren’t being forced to attend, you know.
Maybe you’d be happier if America forced them to convert (at the point of a sword, of course)? Or maybe they shouldn’t be allowed to defend our nation?
I know, a caste system! Christians get to fight in America’s wars, but non-Christians will be prohibited from doing so. Maybe we could go so far as to prohibit them from being able to own weapons... and make ‘em wear a patch on their clothes to single them out, too!
Why, do we currently paint crosses on our planes? I’ve never seen that, and I’m in the AF.
If one of those planes with a Wiccan symbol dropped a bomb on Bin Laden and blew him straight to Allah - I daresay I’d find a circle and dance in it myself.
Oh no - they just have some pretty cool symbols that would work very well on a fighter.
If they want to look ridiculous then I say let them! Neo-paganism is the spiritual equivalent of playing Magic the Gathering.
So Christians despise non-believers and pagans, but will die to defend them? Wow, that’s kind of noble and screwed up at the same time.
I’ve never seen a Wiccan cast a diet spell.
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31½ posted on 02/03/2010 9:06:08 PM EST by Wicked Witch of the West (And your mangy little dog, too! )
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If you want off my ping list get over it!
In the late sixties there was a media blitz of occult subjects such as astrology, witchcraft, reincarnation etc. Before this time it was not common to see these things. The only thing I remember about witchcraft before this period was in the movie “Bell, Book and Candle” which came out about 1958.
I am 62 years old so I remember things going back to the fifties, sixties and seventies. The decade of the sixties was the decade that saw American culture flip. You really have to be old enough to remember those decades to see how much our culture changed and to see how rapidly it changed and how the media and Hollywood pushed all the aspects of the “youth culture” on America's young people.
The post-sixties world brought us all sorts of cults and unconventional beliefs. Today there are people who even think of themselves as vampires. There are vampire weddings. How nutty is that!
I know that everybody has a right to believe whatever they want, but does that mean that they have to be accommodated in an official way?
I so agree they are like little kids playing make believe.
If this is true, and depending on the constituency of the flock, I might be able to sit through a mass or ceremony. Just to show my respect for other’s beliefs, of course...
The following information is from Wikipedia: “Wicca”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca#Ritual_practices
Worldwide membership in Wiccan religions is estimated to be approx. 800,000 members.
In the United States population alone, there have been many attempts at finding a figure, with the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey estimating that at least 134,000 adults identified themselves as Wiccans. This is in comparison to 8,000 in 1990.
Wiccans make up significant proportions of various groups within the U.S. For instance, Wicca is the largest non-Christian faith practiced in the United States Air Force, with 1,434 airmen identifying themselves as such.
What the HE!!!???
I am REALLY beginning to be glad that people don’t live forever and I am almost 52!
It was GW Bush’s administration that first recognized Wiccans. Next?
Recognized them for what? That they exist? Did Bush tell the AF to build a satanic alter for them?
What do you think about the following excerpt from the article cited below?
Is Wicca a form of Satanism?
http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_sata.htm
Wicca, as viewed by Neopagans:
Wicca is unrelated to Satanism. It is a group of religious traditions: some are highly structured, while most are eclectic. Many, perhaps most, Wiccans are solitary practitioners. They are, in many ways, directly opposite to Satanists:
Wiccans worship a Goddess and her consort, a God.
They do not recognize Satan or any other all-evil supernatural entity.
Their prime symbol is the exact opposite to the symbol used by Satanists. It is the upright pentagram — a 5-pointed star with two points downward and one up. Sometimes it is enclosed by a circle to form a pentacle.
Their groups are called covens, not grottos or temples.
Their rule of behavior is called the Wiccan Rede: “An it harm none, do what thou wilt.” i.e. do whatever you wish, as long as it harms no one, including yourself. Unlike Satanists, Wiccans are not allowed do dominate, manipulate, control, or harm others.
They believe that they worship neither the Christian God nor the Christian devil. They worship a Goddess and a God. Neither is at all similar to Satan. Wicca, and other forms of Neopaganism, are as different from Satanism as Hinduism is from Christianity.
If anyone ever goes there check out the graveyard. Some of the high faulting generals, etc., had some pretty weird thoughts. One tombstone says, "Here we go again for the 7th time".
There is even a Hugh pyramid tomb. General believed he would live forever in it.
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And soon there will be